Jonny Clayton extended his lead at the top of the Premier League table by defeating Luke Littler 6-4 in the final in Rotterdam to claim his fourth nightly win of the year. The Welshman delighted the Rotterdam crowd, keeping his cool during an early blitz from Littler to secure back-to-back nightly victories.
Clayton showed resilience throughout the evening, beating home favourite Michael van Gerwen 6-2 in the quarter-finals and then battling past Josh Rock 6-5 in a thrilling semi-final. In the final, he was quickly 2-0 down as Littler hit four of his seven 180s to race into the lead, but Clayton clawed his way back. His scoring was solid rather than spectacular with an average of 92.92, but he produced in key moments with ruthless efficiency on doubles for a 60% checkout rate. This proved the difference as Littler hit just four of his 15 darts at double.
Littler had reached the final despite being booed throughout the night following his exchange with Dutch number one Gian van Veen in Manchester two weeks ago. He beat Gerwyn Price 6-3 in the quarter-finals and held off a fightback from world number two Luke Humphries to win their semi-final 6-5. Clayton is now five points clear of second-placed Littler, though the world champion has an 11-point buffer to fifth, with both men all-but assured of a place at the O2 Arena for finals night on 28 May.
In other matches, Dutch duo Van Veen and Van Gerwen were roared on by the Rotterdam fans but couldn't deliver. Van Veen was out of sorts in a 6-2 quarter-final loss to a much-improved Humphries, which took the defending champion above Van Veen into fifth and to within three points of Van Gerwen in the final play-off place. Van Gerwen had the chance to extend that gap but was swept aside 6-2 by Clayton. Stephen Bunting lost 6-1 to Josh Rock in the quarter-finals despite averaging 114, finding himself 4-0 down as Rock started with four from four on doubles. Price stays third despite a second quarter-final exit in as many weeks.
Looking ahead, Thursday 23 April sees the Premier League move to the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool with quarter-finals: Gian van Veen v Gerwyn Price, Stephen Bunting v Jonny Clayton, Josh Rock v Michael van Gerwen, and Luke Humphries v Luke Littler. The league stage runs across 16 weeks with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final each night. Players earn two points per quarter-final win, an additional point for a semi-final win, and five for winning the night. The top four after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London's O2 Arena on 28 May, where first faces fourth and second faces third in best-of-19-leg matches, followed by a best-of-21-leg final. If players are level on points after 16 weeks, places are decided by nights won and then matches won.
